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Working hard and working smart: Motivation and ability during typical and maximum performance

Journal

Journal of Applied Psychology

Volume | Issue number

92 | 4

Pages (from-to)

978-992

Number of pages

15

Document type

Article

Faculty

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG)Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB)

Institute

Psychology Research Institute (PsyRes)

Abstract

The distinction between what people can do (maximum performance) and what they will do (typical performance) has received
considerable theoretical but scant empirical attention in industrial-organizational psychology. This study of 138 participants
performing an Internet-search task offers an initial test and verification of P. R. Sackett, S. Zedeck, and L. Fogli's (1988)
model of typical versus maximum performance: Motivation--in the form of direction, level, and persistence of effort exerted--rose
significantly under the maximum performance condition. Consequently, the correlation between motivation--in the form of direction
and level of effort--and performance diminished, whereas the correlation between ability--in the form of declarative knowledge
and procedural skills--and performance increased under the maximum performance condition. Overall, results confirm the general
propositions of the model. Implications for the generalizability of these findings, theory, practice, and directions for future
studies of typical and maximum performance are discussed.

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